Graduates pay off university debts by selling their face as ad space
Business is booming for two graduates who decided to pay off their university debts by selling advertising space on their faces.
Ross Harper and Ed Moyse, both Oxford alumni, are selling ad spaces for hundreds of pounds a day and have raised more than £25,000 since setting up business last October.
The entrepreneurial 22-year-olds are now on what they call an 'entrepreneurial gap-year' with their clients sending them skydiving, skiing and on evenings to the opera.
Entrepreneurs: Ross Harper, left, and Ed Moyse have earned an amazing £25,000 since last October by selling advertising space on their faces
And dozens of other debt-laden students who want to rent out their faces have contacted them, including volunteers from as far afield as Germany and the U.S.
Now Mr Harper and Mr Moyse, who only started their business, Buy My Face, on October 1 last year, are preparing for an international launch in the next two months.
Mr Harper, from Greenwich, south London, told the Sunday Times the idea had come to them last summer as they took a break to eat a snack together while studying for their finals.
He said the pair, who met on their first day of university, had been scheming for three years on ways to pay off their debts after graduation.
The face painting idea came to them as it was a way to start a business with minimal upfront investment.
'It was kind of wacky with a lot of fun,' Mr Harper said.
'When it started making money, just from a practical side of things you have to talk to an accountant and things like that, stuff we hadn't expected.'
'Then we were making enough for it to be more of a career.'
Enterprising: The pair came up with the idea for their business as a good way to pay off their university debts
Anyone can buy the advertising space, from businesses to individuals or groups, on a day-to-day basis, through the pair's website, buymyface.co.uk.
The logo is then seen by everyone the friends pass as they go about their daily business.
The pair sold their first face ads to friends and family for just £1 a day, but as demand has increased, so has the daily price, which has now reached a phenomenal £400.
So far, the main contributors have been Paddy Power, the online betting agency, and accountancy firm Ernst & Young, which is now the site's official sponsor.
Jane Robinson, head of recruitment marketing for the accountants, which has also donated the services of a business adviser, said her colleagues were impressed by Mr Harper and Mr Moyse's can-do attitude.
She said advertising for potential new recruits through the pair had been a 'great success'.
Mr Harper, who studied neuroscience, said: 'It's our unconventional way of paying off our student debt.
'The graduate job market is incredibly hostile, and so we thought we'd try and bypass it altogether.
'We've seen so many students unsuccessfully applying for jobs, only to eventually settle in a career that they never really wanted. It's just something a bit different and has taken off quite nicely.'
Mr Moyse, 22, from Poole, Dorset, who studied economics, said: 'It has exceeded expectations, but we always knew it had value and is novel and crazy.'
Most watched Money videos
- How to invest for income and growth: SAINTS' James Dow
- Blue Whale fund manager on the best of the Magnificent 7
- 2025 Aston Martin DBX707: More luxury but comes with a higher price
- The new Volkswagen Passat - a long range PHEV that's only available as an estate
- BMW's Vision Neue Klasse X unveils its sports activity vehicle future
- BMW meets Swarovski and releases BMW i7 Crystal Headlights Iconic Glow
- Land Rover unveil newest all-electric Range Rover SUV
- 'Now even better': Nissan Qashqai gets a facelift for 2024 version
- Mercedes has finally unveiled its new electric G-Class
- Mini celebrates the release of brand new all-electric car Mini Aceman
- Mail Online takes a tour of Gatwick's modern EV charging station
- MailOnline asks Lexie Limitless 5 quick fire EV road trip questions
- British tech firm Raspberry Pi eyes £500m London float in...
- Young people most likely to get in debt with loan sharks,...
- MARKET REPORT: Bumper blue chips send Footsie to another...
- United Utilities revenues near £1.9bn thanks to higher...
- Trading blows over Israel: How global commerce is being...
- Anglo to sell coking coal arm for £4.75bn in bid to...
- The age you can access work and private pensions will...
- Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky ups bid for Royal Mail...
- David Cameron's mother-in-Law quits luxury furniture firm...
- The £60bn foreign takeover frenzy: Royal Mail just the...
- BT Group ups dividend despite losing almost...
- Drivers are being stung at the pumps by fuel retailers...
- Watches of Switzerland defies luxury slowdown with...
- Sage Group shares suffer 'hyperbolic' sell-off as group...
- Car makers will miss Government target for electric...
- Electric car quotas risk creating 'volatility and...
- BUSINESS LIVE: BT to boost free cash flow; EasyJet CEO to...
- EasyJet boss to step down as airline reveals it raked in...